18
Imperfeëïzon т %гс1.г‚&с.
Book. l
Englilh doth too much abound , witnefs thofe words of Break, Bring, Caß, Cleare, Con1e,Cut, Draw, Fall, Hand, Keep, l a), make, Puff, Put, Hun, Set, Stand, Take, none of which have lefs then thirty or forty, and fome
of them about a hundred feveral fenfes , according to their ай: 1п Phra fes, as may be feen in the Dictionary. And though the varieties of Phra fes in Language may feem to contribute to the elegance and ornament of Speech 5 yet,like other affeâed ornaments,they prejudice the native limplicity of it,and contribute to the difguifing of it with falfe appearan ces.
Belides thar,like other things of fafhion, they are very changeable,
every generation producing new ones, witnefs the prefent Age, efpe cially the late times, wherein this grand impoflure of Phrafes hath almoíl categ out folid Knowledge in all profeflions, fuch men generally being of moll efleem who are lkilled in фей: Canting forms of fpeech, though in nothing elfe . 2. 1п refpeól of Synonynton: words , which make Language tedious, and aregenerally jìtperfluitier, Íince the end and ufe of Speech is for hu seali „de
mane utility1 and mutual converfe; ‘изд: zgitur ну?" ut hrefuißgó' гедш,
gg" L' Óßnplexjinqnim longn: Ú“ 'var-im: And yet there .is no particular Lan ВР Wal'm guage but what is very obnoxious in this kind. ’Tis faid that the Arabie pl-¿legomm ,hath above а thoufand feveral names for a Sword, and 500 for a l ion,and
de Lingua
200 for a Serpent, and fourfcore for Hon). And though perhaps no other
‘gdm’ feét‘ Language do exceed at this rate, as to any particular 5 yet do they all of them abound more then enough in the general.
The examples of this
kind,for our Englryb, may be feen in the' following Tables. To this may be added, that there are in moll Languages feveral words that are mere Expleti'ver, not adding any thing to the Senfe. 3. For the An‘otnalifm: and irregularities in Grammatical conftruëti
on, which abound in every'Language , and in fome of them are fo nu merous,that Learned men have fcrupled whether there be any fuch thing as Analogy. 4. For that Dtůrence which there is in very many Words betwixt the writing and pronottncing of them, mentioned before. Scriptio ejìvocnnt
piáïnra: And it Íhould feem very reafonable, that men lhould either fpeak as they write, or write as they fpeak. And yet Cuílom hath fo ri vetted this incongruity and imperfeůiion in all Languages, that it were an hopelefs attempt for any man to go labout to repair and amend it. ‘Tis needlefs to give inllances of this,there being in divers Languages as ma- ‚ ny words whofe founds do difagrce with their way of writing , as thofe are that agree. What is faid of our Eng/ijle Tongue is proportionably true of moll other Languages, That if ten Scribes (not acquainted with the particular Speech) lhould .fet themfelves to write according to
Ípronunciation, not any two of them would agree in the farne way of . obfervation of а Learned man concerning the French Tongue, Р ellin ’Tisgan Sir „M_ .smb that it is ineptif/intè corfnßßaliàr aolfaßidinnt otiojîrßt arä‘a literir ¿ali d: ad rnendicitatem Ó' jejuna con in année raro rationi conforta. 'Tis laid inopr that Peter llanta:5 nunqnantßhi did labour much reducing it to а
de reéta v""ef‘l’t‘on‘i‘
new Orthograph), but met with much'difcouragement in this attempt from Learned men; beíides the invinciblenefs of general Cuflom, a
gainft which ( for the moll part ) men ûrive in vain.
What better fuc
cefs thofe Learned ingenuous perfons of the French Academy ihay have, .
who
